Meaning

• One who willingly accepts being put to death for adhering openly to one's religious beliefs; notably, saints canonized after martyrdom.

  "Saint Stephen was the first Christian martyr."

• (by extension) One who sacrifices his or her life, station, or something of great personal value, for the sake of principle or to sustain a cause.

• (with a prepositional phrase of cause) One who suffers greatly and/or constantly, even involuntarily.

  "Stan is a martyr to arthritis, Chris a martyr to Stan's endless moaning about it."

Meaning

• To make someone into a martyr by putting him or her to death for adhering to, or acting in accordance with, some belief, especially religious; to sacrifice on account of faith or profession.

• To persecute.

  "Some religious and other minorities were martyred until extinction."

• To torment; to torture.

  "The lovely Amoret, whose gentle heart"